News / Cafes
Nicaragua-inspired cafe opens
A new cafe and bar celebrates Nicaraguan coffee culture.
Pete Blacow, who co-owns the cafe inside St Paul’s-based Lost Horizon alongside Kit Nisbet, has now opened Motmot as a solo venture.
Motmot is located in the Imperial Arcade on East Street in what was most recently Alpha Bottle Shop & Taproom.
The cafe serves pour-over and espresso options alongside the standard lattes and cappuccinos.
“This is what sets us apart from other coffee shop alternatives on East Street,” said Pete.
Motmot is named after the national bird of Nicaragua, the country in Central America where Pete spent many years in and to which he credits the start of his coffee journey.
There he ran an ecolodge and coffee farm for three years before bringing his knowledge to open what is now the Lost Horizon coffee shop.
Motmot has opened in what was previously Alpha Bottle Shop and Taproom – photo: James Booth
A team of staff and helpers transformed the space in Bedminster over a couple of weeks with tropical plants and an orange, blue and green colour scheme.
Pete hopes to open a bar and outside pavement area in the future, allowing customers to enjoy a drink in the sunshine.
There are also plans for live music and craft workshops like those currently run at Lost Horizon.
Pete says the space is designed to be a hub for “people to explore coffees, find things they didn’t know existed, and then take that home and enjoy it”.
Main photo: James Booth
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